Research Assistant / Associate in Machine Learning Systems Research

The post of Research Assistant (pre-doctoral) or Research Associate (post-doctoral) is to conduct world-leading research on the performance and scalability of next-generation data-intensive machine learning systems. The successful candidate will join the project, led by Professor Peter Pietzuch in collaboration with industrial partners, to carry out a research programme in the areas of systems, databases and machine learning, to undertake...

Job listing information

• Reference ENG01541
• Date posted 25 January 2021
• Closing date 23 February 2021

Key information about the role

• Location South Kensington Campus (map)
• Position type Full time, fixed term
• Salary £36,045 – £48,340 plus benefits
• Department Department of Computing
• Category Researcher / Non Clinical Researcher

Job description

Job summary

The post of Research Assistant (pre-doctoral) or Research Associate (post-doctoral) is to conduct world-leading research on the performance and scalability of next-generation data-intensive machine learning systems. The successful candidate will join the project, led by Professor Peter Pietzuch in collaboration with industrial partners, to carry out a research programme in the areas of systems, databases and machine learning, to undertake research project management and help supervise a multi-disciplinary project team. In addition, the candidate will be expected to submit publications to top-tier conferences and journals.

The post is based in the Department of Computing at Imperial College London at the South Kensington Campus. The Department of Computing is a leading department of Computer Science among UK Universities, and has consistently been awarded the highest research rating. In the 2014 REF assessment, the Department was ranked third (1st in the Research Intensity table published by The Times Higher) and was rated as "Excellent" in the previous national assessment of teaching quality.

Duties and responsibilities

The position offers an exciting opportunity for conducting internationally leading and impactful research work that aims to solve real-world machine learning problems in the context of big data processing in cloud environments. The Research Assistant/Associate will be responsible for designing new distributed machine learning architectures, providing abstractions and APIs for scalable data processing, and implementing and evaluating experimental software prototypes. They will be expected to publicise their research results at premier systems, distributed systems, and database conferences.

For further information on the group and related projects, see: http://lsds.doc.ic.ac.uk

Essential requirements

To apply for this position, you must have a strong computer science background and have experience, including a proven publication track-record, in one or more of the following areas: software systems, machine learning, distributed systems, and/or big data management.

You should also have:

• A Master’s degree (Research Assistant) or PhD degree (Research Associate) in computer science or a related area.
• Experience with the design and implementation of complex software systems in systems programming languages, such as C and/or C++
• Excellent communication skills and be able to organise your own work and prioritise work to meet deadlines.
• Knowledge of research methods, experimental systems methodology, and statistical procedures.

*Candidates who have not yet been officially awarded their PhD will be appointed as Research Assistant within the salary range £36,045 - £39,183 per annum.

Further information

In addition to completing the online application, candidates should attach:

• A full CV, with a list of all publications
• A 2-page research statement indicating what you see are interesting research issues relating to the above post and why your expertise is relevant.

Informal enquiries related to the position should be directed to Prof. Peter Pietzuch: prp@imperial.ac.uk

For queries regarding the application process contact Jamie Perrins: j.perrins@imperial.ac.uk

For technical issues when applying online please email recruitment@imperial.ac.uk

Committed to equality and valuing diversity, we are an Athena SWAN Silver Award winner, a Stonewall Diversity Champion, a Disability Confident Employer and work in partnership with GIRES to promote respect for trans people.

The College is a proud signatory to the San-Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), which means that in hiring and promotion decisions, we evaluate applicants on the quality of their work, not the journal impact factor where it is published. For more information, see https://www.imperial.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/about-imperial-research/research-evaluation/

The College believes that the use of animals in research is vital to improve human and animal health and welfare. Animals may only be used in research programmes where their use is shown to be necessary for developing new treatments and making medical advances. Imperial is committed to ensuring that, in cases where this research is deemed essential, all animals in the College’s care are treated with full respect, and that all staff involved with this work show due consideration at every level. http://www.imperial.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/about-imperial-research/research-integrity/animal-research/